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Re: engineers and scientists was [TCML] Wireless Transmission Theory
Peter,
I remember reading the following quote somewhere..
"wisdom has two parts:
(1) having a lot to say, and
(2) not saying it. "
-unknown
No idea where it came from, but it seems to be the best approach to most things.. I've been so very busy with research and personal projects related to robotics, etc that there isn't much time for a dedicated coiling setup (though I've been working on it). I read the list usually based on topics that catch my eye and for some reason this subject hit home quite soundly. Take for instance:
"BTW:
As
a
theoretical
scientist,
I
can
TIG
weld,
run
a
lathe,
mill
,
etc.,
or
any
wood
working
device.
Don't
confuse
skills
with
philosophy!
John
W.
G."
I have been a *strong* believer in the 'hands on' aspect of science and life in general, and if someday I am bestowed with the gift of a tenured position, this will be the mantra for many years to come. There are too many 'practical' skills overlooked in today's education system, so that the common 'engineer' strives to become nothing more than a manager. (not that having the skills to manage a group of individuals is a bad thing). I just see engineering for what it is.. Engineering. I'm not in it for the money, or the prestige of being famous or well-known but simply the sheer enjoyment of working in fantastic realms of the unknown (ultrafast lasers for instance: pulse widths on the order of femtoseconds and instantaneous powers in the terawatt range) *and* the ability to create and manufacture just about anything . I try to instill this in nearly every one I meet and everything I do..
Sorry for getting so very OT.. I don't get to tell many people this, since quite a few of them don't understand.. ;)
Coiling In Pittsburgh
Ben McMillen
----- Original Message ----
From: Peter Terren <pterren@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: Tesla Coil Mailing List <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 7:38:09 AM
Subject: Re: engineers and scientists was [TCML] Wireless Transmission Theory
Ben,
on
my
computer
your
enclosure
of
Jim
Lux's
reply
was
1
word
per
line
giving
about
20
full
pages.
Probably
a
TCML
record.
And
in
regard
to
the
topic
and
your
multiple
degrees,
I
can
only
boast
of
dropping
out
of
physics
after
the
first
year.
Basically
I
just
do
pretty
picures.....
Peter
www.tesladownunder.com
-----
Original
Message
-----
From:
"Ben
McMillen"
<spoonman534@xxxxxxxxx>
To:
"Tesla
Coil
Mailing
List"
<tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent:
Sunday,
February
10,
2008
2:47
PM
Subject:
Re:
engineers
and
scientists
was
[TCML]
Wireless
Transmission
Theory
>
Jim,
all,
>
As
an
engineer
AND
a
scientist
(currently
a
PhD
candidate
and
the
proud
>
recipient
of
two
degrees
in
engineering)
I'd
like
to
comment
that
>
engineers
make
the
best
scientists.
Yes,
we
do
to
learn,
but
half
the
>
learning
is
the
doing.
Every
opportunity
is
another
chance
to
practice
the
>
'doing'
to
get
to
the
final
goal
of
understanding.
If
you're
doing
it
>
right,
you're
getting
*both*
for
the
price
of
one..
>
>
No
idea
if
this
makes
any
sense,
but
it's
always
worked
for
me..
>
>
Coiling
In
Pittsburgh
>
Ben
McMillen
>
>
>
-----
Original
Message
----
>
From:
Jim
Lux
<jimlux@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
To:
Tesla
Coil
Mailing
List
<tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
>
Sent:
Sunday,
February
10,
2008
12:08:07
AM
>
Subject:
Re:
engineers
and
scientists
was
[TCML]
Wireless
Transmission
>
Theory
>
>
>
Ed
>
Phillips
>
wrote:
>>
>
Hi
>
Bill,
>>
>>
>
Most
>
engineers
>
I've
>
encountered
>
are
>
not
>
like
>
that
>
in
>
any
>
way.
>
They
>
are
>>
>
about
>
physics
>
and
>
they
>
will
>
look
>
at
>
the
>
world
>
through
>
the
>
eyes
>
of
>
our
>>
>
physical
>
universe
>
and
>
not
>
limit
>
themselves
>
to
>
"any"
>
theory.
>
I
>
of
>
course
>>
>
have
>
met
>
a
>
few
>
engineers
>
stuck
>
in
>
their
>
ways
>
and
>
nothing
>
was
>
going
>
to
>>
>
change
>
them.
>
But
>
most
>
are
>
not
>
like
>
that.
>
Don't
>
stereotype
>
engineers.
>>
>
There
>
are
>
both
>
engineers
>
and
>
physicist
>
set
>
in
>
their
>
ways
>
and
>
there
>
are
>>
>
both
>
engineers
>
and
>
physicist
>
with
>
a
>
brain
>
to
>
look
>
further.
>>
>
>
I
>
figure
>
I'll
>
throw
>
my
>
words
>
in
>
before
>
Chip
>
kills
>
this
>
off.
>
>
In
>
my
>
annual
>
"career
>
day"
>
talk
>
at
>
my
>
kid's
>
schools
>
I
>
talk
>
about
>
what
>
being
>
an
>
engineer
>
is
>
like..
>
and
>
how
>
engineers
>
differ
>
from
>
scientists.
>
This
>
is
>
something
>
I
>
get
>
to
>
observe
>
every
>
day
>
at
>
work
>
(JPL)
>
and
>
which
>
interestingly,
>
was
>
also
>
commented
>
on
>
by
>
Steve
>
Squyres
>
in
>
his
>
book
>
about
>
the
>
Mars
>
Rovers.
>
>
Obviously,
>
it's
>
not
>
a
>
Manichean
>
thing
>
with
>
one
>
or
>
the
>
other,
>
more
>
of
>
a
>
continuum,
>
but
>
a
>
bimodal
>
one.
>
>
However..
>
Scientists
>
are
>
driven
>
by
>
wanting
>
to
>
understand.
>
Engineers
>
are
>
driven
>
by
>
wanting
>
to
>
do.
>
The
>
classic
>
scientist
>
might
>
do
>
experiments
>
to
>
better
>
understand,
>
but
>
the
>
goal
>
is
>
the
>
understanding,
>
not
>
the
>
doing
>
the
>
experiments.
>
The
>
engineer
>
strives
>
to
>
do
>
something,
>
typically
>
requiring
>
some
>
understanding,
>
but
>
there
>
are
>
lots
>
of
>
engineers
>
who
>
work
>
totally
>
empirically.
>
Although,
>
to
>
me,
>
what
>
made
>
engineering
>
engineering
>
(around
>
the
>
time
>
of
>
the
>
Renaissance)
>
was
>
the
>
change
>
from
>
doing
>
it
>
as
>
a
>
craft
>
(do
>
what
>
worked
>
before)
>
was
>
the
>
use
>
of
>
a
>
theoretical
>
model
>
to
>
guide
>
what
>
you
>
do
>
next.
>
For
>
instance,
>
I'm
>
pretty
>
impressed
>
by
>
what
>
Roman
>
engineers
>
did
>
2000
>
years
>
ago
>
(aqueducts,
>
bridges,
>
the
>
Pantheon),
>
but
>
I'm
>
not
>
totally
>
convinced
>
it
>
was
>
engineering
>
in
>
the
>
modern
>
sense.
>
It
>
might
>
have
>
been
>
how
>
medieval
>
cathedrals
>
were
>
built..
>
a
>
collection
>
of
>
practical
>
guidelines
>
arrived
>
at
>
over
>
many
>
years
>
of
>
trial
>
and
>
error,
>
without
>
an
>
understanding
>
of
>
why
>
it
>
works
>
the
>
way
>
it
>
does.
>
>
Consider,
>
for
>
instance,
>
building
>
an
>
aqueduct
>
like
>
the
>
Pont
>
du
>
Gard.
>
Sure,
>
the
>
Romans
>
were
>
able
>
to
>
achieve
>
amazing
>
feats
>
of
>
controlling
>
the
>
grade
>
and
>
roughness
>
to
>
get
>
the
>
water
>
flow
>
to
>
work
>
right.
>
But,
>
did
>
they
>
do
>
this
>
by
>
applying
>
experience
>
(empiricism),
>
essentially
>
relying
>
on
>
trial
>
and
>
error.
>
Or,
>
did
>
they
>
understand
>
hydraulics,
>
and
>
have
>
some
>
theoretical
>
basis
>
for
>
knowing
>
why
>
to
>
choose
>
a
>
particular
>
slope,
>
roughness,
>
and
>
channel
>
width,
>
from
>
first
>
principles.
>
>
Likewise,
>
consider
>
the
>
Pantheon
>
in
>
Rome:
>
it's
>
the
>
largest
>
self
>
supporting
>
dome
>
in
>
the
>
world
>
until
>
Brunelleschi
>
built
>
the
>
Duomo
>
in
>
Florence
>
some
>
1500
>
years
>
later.
>
And
>
it's
>
still
>
standing.
>
An
>
amazing
>
feat,
>
but,
>
did
>
they
>
design
>
it
>
by
>
analyzing
>
stresses
>
and
>
figuring
>
how
>
thick
>
to
>
make
>
the
>
concrete,
>
etc.
>
Or,
>
was
>
it
>
just
>
built
>
by
>
scaling
>
up
>
earlier
>
designs,
>
and
>
when
>
they
>
collapsed,
>
making
>
it
>
bigger.
>
>
An
>
example
>
of
>
trial
>
and
>
error
>
is
>
pyramid
>
building.
>
The
>
pyramid
>
of
>
Zoser
>
>
in
>
Maidun
>
collapsed
>
while
>
the
>
outer
>
casing
>
was
>
being
>
built.
>
The
>
pyramid
>
at
>
Dashur
>
was
>
being
>
built
>
at
>
the
>
same
>
time
>
(but
>
started
>
some
>
10-15
>
years
>
later),
>
and
>
they
>
thought
>
the
>
collapse
>
was
>
due
>
to
>
being
>
too
>
steep,
>
so
>
they
>
reduced
>
the
>
angle
>
midway
>
up,
>
producing
>
the
>
bent
>
pyramid.
>
>
Later
>
it
>
was
>
apparently
>
determined
>
that
>
the
>
problem
>
was
>
more
>
how
>
the
>
courses
>
of
>
stone
>
were
>
laid
>
(it
>
couldn't
>
resist
>
the
>
compressional
>
loading,
>
and
>
essentially,
>
the
>
weight
>
of
>
the
>
top
>
courses
>
squished
>
the
>
bottom
>
courses
>
out,
>
like
>
a
>
watermelon
>
seed
>
between
>
your
>
fingers),
>
so
>
later
>
designs
>
essentially
>
had
>
the
>
courses
>
sloping
>
rather
>
than
>
flat.
>
>
I
>
don't
>
know
>
that
>
pyramid
>
architects
>
actually
>
figured
>
this
>
out
>
by
>
analyzing
>
the
>
forces,
>
or
>
by
>
just
>
doing
>
some
>
empirical
>
experiments.
>
>
>
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>
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>
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>
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>
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>
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>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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